3 held in Assam for suspected Maoist links

Three persons with suspected Maoist links were apprehended from different parts of Assam, police said on Monday.

One of those arrested from the Cachar district allegedly had links with Maoist leader Arun Kumar Bhattacharjee, known by his nom de guerre ‘Kanchan Da’, they said.

The other two persons were nabbed from Dibrugarh by the Army, they added. Cachar’s Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta told PTI that one Dharitri Sharma was arrested on Saturday night.

”A team of Crime Branch of Guwahati Police had come and made the arrest. Sharma was taken away the same night,” he said.

Mahatta said the arrest was made based on information extracted after the apprehension of ‘Kanchan Da’.

”The specific allegations against Sharma are being investigated,” the officer added.

‘Kanchan Da’, a member of the CPI(Maoist)’s central committee, was arrested from Cachar in March. He was tasked to set up a state-level committee of the banned outfit in Assam, and create a ”red corridor” from a neighbouring country to other Left-Wing Extremism-hit states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, according to police.

The two other persons were nabbed by the Army from Dibrugarh on Sunday, Additional Superintendent of Police Bitul Chetia said.

”The Army apprehended the duo for suspected links with Maoists. An investigation is on,” he said.

One .22 pistol, one magazine and four rounds of live ammunition were seized from them, the officer said.